HC Slezan Opava is an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team in the Second National Hockey League (third-level league) from

Opava Opava (; german: Troppau, pl, Opawa) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Opava (river), Opava. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia. It was a histori ...

. The club was founded in 1945. As soon as in 1951, Slezan was promoted to the

Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1936 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split. History ...

and played there until 1953. Slezan Opava played in the top-level league also two seasons in 1957 and 1960. In the Czech Republic, the club was promoted to the elite

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga ( cs, Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The leag ...

in 1996, after it won the promotion play-offs. The club had financial difficulties and sold the license for Extraliga in 1999 to HC Havířov. From the 1999/2000 season the club played the

First National Hockey League The Chance Liga is the second-highest level of professional ice hockey in the Czech Republic, after the Extraliga. It began in 1993 and is run and administered by Czech Ice Hockey Association. Until 2015, the league was known as the 1st Czech N ...

(second-level league) but was relegated in the 2004/2005 season to the Second National Hockey League (third-level league).

Famous players

David Hruška David Hruška (born January 8, 1977) is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger for HC Stadion Cheb of the Czech 2.liga. He was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the 6th round (131st overall) of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. Hruška played 8 ...

Drahomír Kadlec Drahomír Kadlec (born 29 November 1965) is a Czech former ice hockey defenceman. Kadlec played in the Czech Extraliga for HC Kladno, HC Dukla Jihlava, HC Zlín, HC Litvínov and HC Slezan Opava. He also played in Finland's SM-liiga for HIFK ...

Libor Polášek Libor Polášek (born April 22, 1974) is a retired Czech professional ice hockey centre. He has been described by some Vancouver Canucks fans and journalists as one of the worst first-round draft picks made by that NHL team. Playing career The ...

External links

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Official website

Sport in Opava 1945 establishments in Czechoslovakia {{CzechRepublic-sport-stub